


Footsteps

by Janecat



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Ghosts, M/M, Paranormal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2018-03-05 01:11:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3099428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janecat/pseuds/Janecat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason catches sight of him every week and after mustering the courage to talk to him he’s pretty damn certain he’s head over heels. What he doesn’t plan on is haunted houses, a possessed teenager, and the possible loss of his sanity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Footsteps

Every Friday afternoon is the same: Jason gets off of work and catches the bus, avoiding any possible human interaction. Not that he has to deal with too many customers behind the glass of the meat department, but there’s always a manager somewhere that wants to extend his hours. Jason points to his schedule on the wall, reiterates his times and finishes his shift. Normally he has the bus almost completely to himself, save for the few senior citizens and random one time commuters, but lately someone’s been catching his eye.

The first word that comes to mind to describe this new guy is tired. It’s a cute kind of tired though: bright blue eyes blinking slowly, lips parted just so, his jet black hair always a mess like it’s only ever been combed with his fingers. Every Friday he boards the bus with a duffle bag and backpack and sits a few rows ahead of Jason, sitting lengthwise across two seats. It’s a nice break from routine, just watching, but after staring at the other man’s collar bones for an unhealthy amount of time Jason figures he should at least learn the guy’s name.

This Friday Jason gathers his courage and plops himself down in the row directly behind the man. The other’s gaze fixes onto him and there’s a snap of plastic from a video camera held in his hands.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Jason begins. “Just, uh, I see you every Friday and I was curious what your name was.” 

“Curiosity can get you into trouble.”

“Your name cursed or somethin’?”

“Never know.” He smiles. “It’s Dick. Dick Grayson.”

“Jason Todd.” They share a slightly awkward handshake Jason will roll his eyes about later. “Here I was thinking you were reading and you’ve been a filmmaker all along.”

“Just a film student,” Dick says. “I don’t even know what this’ll end up being.”

“What’s it about?”

“It’s… Well, it’s personal for now.”

“Sorry.” Jason holds up his hands and leans back in his seat. “Being a film student sounds cool.” 

“It’s fun, though I get stuck in front of the camera a lot of times in class which is annoying.” 

“You have a face for it. Acting, I mean,” Jason explains then laughs. “Watch as my creep factor sky rockets.”

Dick smiles. “Don’t worry about it, and thank you. Do you go to school?”

“I wanted to go to college, but all my time has been spent repairing the house my mom left me.”

“By yourself?” Dick asks. “Sounds like a lot of work.”

“It is, but it meant a lot to her.”

“What about you though?”

“I hated it when I was a kid,” Jason admits. “We used to live in Gotham and I know it’s only a day’s drive but it’s still a pain in the ass.”

“So you don’t like it?”

“I don’t hate it anymore but it’s big for one person. That and it’s kinda creepy at night. Any little noise makes your hair stand up. It’s out past the new suburbs where all the houses are a half a mile apart and everyone thinks each one is haunted.”

“It sounds interesting actually.”

“Yeah?”

“I spend most of my week staying with a friend who lives an old house. It’s creepy but to me that’s part of the charm.”

“That’s one way to put it. Is that where you’re headed now?”

Dick shakes his head. “Actually I’m headed back to my place. Sadly, it’s not a grand manor, just a roach filled studio.”

“You could ride until the end of the line with me and come by for lunch or something.”

“A bit forward aren’t you?”

“It’s just lunch.”

“Or something.”

A few hours and a six pack of beer later Jason finds himself on his back with his knees pressed into his chest. Turns out Dick is even more beautiful completely naked and pumping into him. Beautiful might be a strong word for someone he only technically met that day and the alcohol may be playing a role, but there was something the minute they got off the bus that seemed to click between them. The pair of them chattering away the entire walk back home, Jason can’t even remember exactly what they were talking about but given his current circumstance he can’t be faulted too heavily. All Jason can think of is combing his fingers into Dick’s hair and pulling him closer for a kiss. 

So he does.

“That was something, alright.” Dick smiles lazily as he settles down next to Jason.

“You are… I’m glad I talked to you,” Jason says as he turns onto his side.

“Me too.” Dick stretches and yawns. 

Jason grabs a blanket from the floor that had fallen in their rush and pulls it over them. Dick puts a hand on his waist and in a few blinks they’re both out. 

In his dreams, Jason’s floating in a pool with no distinct edges. As he drifts, the horizon suddenly closes in around him and becomes a bathtub, his arm hanging off the rim. Water dripping off his fingertips splashes into a puddle that grows and grows until the whole room sinks into its depths. He wakes up trying to suck in air but his throat’s dry and all Jason can do is cough until it clears.

He glances over to find Dick missing from the bed, and his shoulders begin to sag until the distinct smell of coffee wafts through the air. He gets dressed and heads downstairs into the kitchen hoping that the other man hasn’t left quite yet. To his luck, Dick is sitting at his dinner table, mug in front of him and camera in hand. 

He smiles at Jason and closes the camera. “Needed some coffee. I made extra though, hope you don’t mind.”

“Sex and coffee?” He grins and fishes out a mug from the cupboard. “I might ask you to stay the night.”

“Tempting. Walls that aren’t paper thin; no stomping feet from above.”

“Peaceful little house in the woods.” Jason is about to take his first sip when the electricity goes out. “...And I’m a jinx.”

Dick exhales a laugh. “Where’s the fuse box?”

“Basement.”

“This is generally how horror movies start.”

“Good thing you have a camera then.”

Dick isn’t holding his camera but a flashlight as they head down into the basement, Jason leading the way with his own. There isn’t much in the basement, just a few boxes of his mother’s things that he decided to keep, tools, and other supplies needed for house repairs. After he set up lights throughout the room it wasn’t all that scary, however, that required the lights to be on. With Dick behind him though the darkness is much more tolerable.

“Do the lights in your friend’s house go out a lot?”

“We’re well stocked in candles over there.”

Jason pops open the fuse box. “Sounds pretty shitty.”

“Camera has a light so it’s not too bad.”

“So is the house part of the project you’re filming?”

“It is, actually,” Dick says. With a flick of a few switches the basement comes alight.

“Feel like telling me what it’s about yet?”

Dick bites at his lip. “Let’s go upstairs first. Your coffee’s getting cold.”

In the kitchen Jason pulls up a chair as Dick opens the camera screen and starts fast forwarding through footage.

“So the big question is, do you believe in ghosts?”

“Seriously?”

Dick moves the camera closer to his chest. “Yes.”

“My mom died in this house. I found her one morning in her bed… Anyway, everyone said she’d be watching over me now and I didn’t believe them for shit. But, I saw her months later.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I know, I know, it sounds nuts, ut she was there at her fucking vanity and smiling like I hadn’t seen in years. It was like… everything that had been weighing down on me was instantly ok.”

“Did you ever see her again?”

Jason shakes his head. “Just that once. I think she might’ve been saying goodbye.”

Dick looks at him in awe. “That’s amazing.”

The memory swells up in his mind, the translucent face of his mother catching sight of him and smiling just before she disappeared. 

“So you’re filming ghosts? Or trying to?” Jason asks.

Dick gives a slight tilt of his head. “Kind of. My friend, Tim, he’s a photography student and lately he’s been finding strange distortions or things that shouldn’t be in his images. He tried using different cameras but the same thing keeps happening. The distortions get even worse when he takes photos in that house.”

“So there’s something in his house?”

Dick nods but then looks unsure. He puts the camera down on the table and pulls his phone out of his pocket. A few taps later and Jason’s looking at a picture of a picture; a guy, presumably Tim, has a camera in hand as he faces a mirror. There’s nothing strange about Tim in the photo. It’s the shadow slightly behind him that makes Jason’s stomach twist into a knot. It’s too dark to be Tim’s shadow, too jagged, everything about it feels wrong.

“It looks angry,” Jason says.

“How can you tell?” Dick asks and he shrugs.

“I dunno, just does.”

They spend the next few hours chatting about the house and looking over video footage, though most of it only captures noises and flickers of light. Dick puts in another memory card which begins with him sitting in bed sounding like he just woke up.

“I heard something outside,” Dick’s whispers as he stands up, clicking the light of the camera. “I think someone’s throwing rocks at my window.”

Slowly the curtains open and the camera tilts from the second floor down to the grass below, and there’s Tim, standing there with a blank expression. In one hand are a few small pebbles. In the other is a brick. He raises his arm to throw the brick, and Dick moves just in time to miss the glass shattering in his face. Dick rushes back to the window, shouting for Tim, but he’s nowhere in sight. The next couple of minutes is Dick running through the wooded grounds surrounding the home and finding nothing. This goes on for awhile until Dick’s exhaustion gets the better of him, and he returns to the living room, flopping onto the couch and placing the camera on the floor, still rolling.

Dick fast forwards the camera to just before sunrise, when a pair of dirt caked feet slowly shuffle past the screen leaving muddy prints behind. It then cuts to Tim and Dick talking at the kitchen table. Tim looks tired but more or less normal, and has no clue about anything until waking up that morning in bed. 

“It was weird. When I got up, it felt like I had just taken a shower. My hair was still damp and everything.” Tim examines his hands and holds up the back of his right to the camera. There are few fresh looking cuts and scratches. “Great. Now I’m sleepwalking.”

Dick snaps the camera closed. “When he saw the footage, especially the last part, he went sorta numb. He looked frightened but confused.” He sighs. “I worry about him being alone there right now.” 

"When do you head back?"

"Monday. I stay through until Friday morning, but I'm starting to think I should be there all week."

"Yeah, I'd be worried too." Jason nods then glances over at the window. "Shit, it's getting dark."

"Can I take you up on the offer to stay the night?"

Jason learns a few things that night: Dick is a complete blanket hog, Jason himself kicks in his sleep, and despite the first two things waking up next to Dick makes him smile. There’s a comfortable warmth shared between them, at least until Dick rolls over and takes the covers with him. He yanks at the blankets, making Dick flop over and almost on top of him. Their eyes meet and soon laughter erupts from both of them. 

“Sorry, I uh, tend to cocoon myself,” Dick chuckles.

“It’s cute.” Jason smiles and thinks about kissing him. 

Dick beats him to it, though.

As they walk to the bus station in the morning they exchange numbers and Dick promises to tell him any news that happens at the house. Jason doesn’t really expect much but by the following Friday they had been texting non stop. He’s gotten photos and short videos of the house plus one where Tim playfully glares at the camera asking why Dick’s been smiling so much lately. Thursday morning he’s sent a photo of a dead bird out on the front walkway, one wing is stretched out while the other looks to be torn off.

-A warning or a hungry cat?- Dick sends as the caption.

-Wings don’t really have any meat for cats.- He responds.

-You’re supposed to be a comforting presence here, Jason!-

-I wish I was there.- He sends out then stares at the screen with wide eyes.

“Shit.” He says aloud but a few seconds later his phone buzzes.

-I’ll ask Tim about it. I’d love it if you could. The more eyes here the better.-

Jason blinks, he didn’t necessarily mean being there at the house but he has to admit the place really intrigued him. After his mother’s passing he began to read about the afterlife, ghosts, and ways to communicate with them, not that he believed in any of it. It was more to settle the facts as facts and to laugh at the idea that you could light a few candles and call forth a spirit. Then his mother showed up and snatched away his comfortable skepticism. The door to the spirit world opened that day and has stayed open ever since.


End file.
